The invention relates to a print processing apparatus, and particularly to a print processing apparatus for performing an access control in which print instructions sent in the form of various protocols from clients connected to a network are received, the print instructions are associated with various user authentication schemes on the side of clients, and each user is judged to determine whether the user is allowed to use various operations for a printer.
In a multiprotocol network print apparatus of the prior art, there is a need to perform an access control in the unit of a user in such a manner that a user in a certain protocol is allowed to perform a print operation but not allowed to perform other operations, or that a cancel operation for a print operation of user's own is allowed but a cancel operation for a print operation of another user in another protocol is not allowed.
Specifically, there is a case where an access control in which a user of UNIX (registered trademark licenced in U.S.A. and other countries by X/Open Co., Ltd., hereinafter this indication will be omitted) is inhibited from canceling by using a protocol of Lpr a print operation of a user of NetWare (registered trademark of Novell, Inc., U.S.A., hereinafter this indication will be omitted) in a protocol of NetWare, and a print operation of a user of Macintosh (registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc., U.S.A., hereinafter this indication will be omitted) in a protocol of AppleTalk (trademark of Apple Computer, Inc., U.S.A., hereinafter this indication will be omitted).
When a protocol of Lpr in UNIX is used, for a multiuser system of UNIX, a user can cancel a print operation of the user but cannot cancel a print operation of another user. By contrast, the administrator can perform a control in which all print operations are canceled.
With respect to print jobs received in the form of multiprotocol, the administrator can cancel any of the jobs. By using a protocol of AppleTalk, therefore, the administrator can cancel even a print operation of a Macintosh user.
In a network print apparatus which is configured so as to receive print instructions in a plurality of protocols, it must be verified that a user who makes a request is a correct user, in order to perform an access control in the unit of a user. However, forms of user authentication vary with protocols. For example, instructions of a certain protocol include information which can authenticate a user. In another case, instructions include information which can be used only for identification in the unit of a client and not in the unit of a user. In another case, although the name of a user may be identified, such information is not entirely reliable because no authentication scheme is provided. When an access by the user is to be controlled in multiprotocol print processing, therefore, print instructions from all protocols cannot be subjected to user authentication by the same method, thereby producing a problem in that various authentication schemes must be prepared.
A print apparatus of the prior art has a further problem that delicate access controls such as only a specific user is allowed to make color printing, to use an OHP sheet, or to use a font including a formal logo symbol of a company, cannot be performed.